Obama responses stun Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez

Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez was astounded this week by
President Barack Obama's decision to respond a written questionnaire Sánchez submitted
to the White House. Still recovering from bruises left by a recent vicious attack
by state security agents, she told CPJ from her home in Havana: "This is the best way to get better."

The blogger said that she had tried for months to reach the U.S. president
through different channels. Sánchez said she had sent written questions to
Obama through a wide range of different people before the White House responded.
On her blog Generación Y, where she
has posted Obama's answers
to her seven questions, Sánchez explained that the questions were based on
issues "that keep me from sleeping," and were born from her personal
experience.

"It was a very pleasant surprise," Sánchez said,
acknowledging that the chances that Obama would reply were minimal. Before
responding to the questions, Obama thanked Sánchez for the opportunity to
exchange views with her and her readers in Cuba,
and congratulated her for receiving Columbia's
University Maria
Moors Cabot Award for excellence in Latin American reporting.

"Your blog provides the world a unique window into the
realities of daily life in Cuba,"
Obama wrote. "It is telling that the Internet has provided you and other
courageous Cuban bloggers with an outlet to express yourself so freely, and I
applaud your collective efforts to empower fellow Cubans to express themselves
through the use of technology. The government and people of the United States
join all of you in looking forward to the day all Cubans can freely express
themselves in public without fear and without reprisals."

Sánchez asked Obama questions that ranged from U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba, to the
legitimacy of President Raúl Castro and the potential involvement of the Cuban
exile community, the political opposition, and nascent civil society groups.

Sánchez also raised the issue of limited Internet access in Cuba, asking whether the U.S. embargo has
anything to do with it. Obama responded by saying that his administration has
taken steps "to promote the free flow of information to and from the Cuban
people particularly through new technologies." But Obama warned that this will
not have its full effect without action from Cuba. "I understand the Cuban
government has announced a plan to provide Cubans greater access to the
Internet at post offices," said Obama. The president urged the Cuban government
"to allow its people to enjoy unrestricted access to the Internet and to
information."

When Sánchez asked if he would be willing to travel to Cuba, Obama said he "would never rule out a
course of action that could advance the interests of the United States and advance the cause
of freedom for the Cuban people." Surprising to Sánchez was that Obama said
that the U.S. "has no
intention of using military force in Cuba."

Sánchez, who has received several international awards and
blogs regularly for the U.S.-based Huffington Post, said she was
satisfied by Obama's responses, which she described as cautious, moderate, and diplomatic.
She has also sent a series of questions to Raúl Castro, but hasn't received a
response yet.

In a recent
report, CPJ described the emergence of a vibrant independent blogging
community in Cuba.
Despite severe legal, economic, and practical restrictions the number of
independent journalism blogs has grown since the first few emerged in 2007, CPJ
research has found. The bloggers, mainly young and from a variety of
professions, critically examine the issues that Cubans face daily: food
shortages, health care, education, housing problems, and the lack of Internet
access.

Free press advocates and Cuban journalists point to Sánchez
as a pioneer in this evolving blogging community. Sánchez, who started
blogging in April 2007, was the first to write under her own byline. Generación Y and six Cuban
blogs are hosted by the German-based portal Desde Cuba (From Cuba), a place
where, as its introduction says, "citizen journalists" can offer "opinions that
don't have room in official Cuban outlets or any other publication that is
conditioned by political requirements."

CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría, a native of Buenos Aires, is a widely published journalist who has written extensively for Noticias, the leading Spanish-language newsmagazine.
Follow him on Facebook @ CPJ en Español.

Yoani, I'm an American of parents born in Cuba. I am an American first, but my heart is Cuba. I promise some day to do my part to free all Cubans. Please keep fighting. Our dream of liberty in Cuba is near